Shin Okubo Sekitei Hotel

"It's fine. Kinda smelly of tatami in the room and walls have some staining. Service is nice. Location is a little more walking than I would've liked but not bad."

"Stayed 2 nights in April 2025. Location was great with easy access to public transport, restaurants and shops/stores. It's definitely not a 3 star hotel. Room has some smell. Mattress and blanket were old and should be replaced. Patches on the wall could be repainted. Toilet/bathroom is very outdated.\n\nMy biggest concern is safety of belongings. The receptionist who I believed was also the owner of the business who's fluent in English said we must hand over our room key whenever we leave our room. Unlike cards at other hotels, we were given a key. Upon our return, the receptionist would hand the keys back to us. I've never encountered such policy but assumed it was just a control to prevent people from loosing their keys and to enable staff to clean our room when we're out.\n\nBefore checkout, I had a pinkish AmyParis shirt in my luggage that I wanted to wear but couldn't find it. It was in my luggage when I checked in. Searched the whole room but couldn't find it either. I raised this with the lady/owner at the reception as well as my suspicion of theft. She replied saying that only cleaners would enter the room for cleaning and they were international students who she trusted. She even raised her hand saying "I swear they wouldn't do such a thing" and she said sorry that this happened to us. As a customer, this is not good enough for me. I want to see proof, at least CCTV footage of staff entering and exiting my room. I don't recall seeing CCTV cameras installed in the building which is a big concern.\n\nThe lady/owner then inspected our room but again the shirt's still missing. She said sorry again but as a customer, I felt there should be some sort of compensation. In the end, we just left. I told her to contact us if she finds my shirt. This whole incident had delayed our checkout by 2 hours. We had to delay our train ride to Hakone and cancel some activities.\n\nIt's been 39 days since I checked out of this place. 34 days since I left Japan. Today while looking for one of my yellow uniqlo lambswool sweater, I realised it was stolen at this place too. Anyone planning to stay here should lock all your luggage before leaving the room.\n\nMost travellers would store luxury items in a safe provided by the hotel or carry them when leaving the room. I've never had to do this for clothes. It's shocking that their staff would open your luggage when cleaning your room. Not saying all staff would do this but there is at least one who should be fired for theft. There should be due diligence to check their staff before and after they complete their shift. For example, check if they are hiding any clothing by wearing extra layer of clothing underneath their own clothing, checking their bag etc.\n\nThere's a review 2 years ago about a similar incident where guest found out someone had eaten her strawberries and also gradually stole pharmaceutical and cosmetic products during her stay. It wasn't obvious to her at the beginning because things were stolen bit by bit over the course of her stay. Interesting that her review was written two years ago because the lady/owner at the reception also said that the staff who cleaned our room had been employed for 2 years. Could it be that both incidents are connected to the same staff?\n\nIf you're travelling light, you should be ok if you choose to stay here. Otherwise, please lock ALL your luggage or risk loosing your purchases/belongings. Many a times, you won't realise what's missing, especially if you've packed a lot in your luggage and items are stolen gradually. You'll only realise when you want to wear/use a specific item.\n\nI wouldn't book this place again given our negative experience. The most important thing for us is trust. Other aspects like room cleanliness, location is secondary.\n\nIf you have similar experience with this place, please share it. Any feedback, whether good or bad should be shared for the benefit of all travellers considering Shin-Okubo Sekitei as their choice of accomodation. Any business owners should take feedback seriously to improve customer satisfaction."

"I stayed 5 different places whilst in Japan and this was by far the BEST! Wish I'd stayed longer. The staff and management are absolutely amazing, very welcoming and accommodating and more then that, absolutely beautiful people. The rooms were cleaned daily and the location is exactly what you'd want. Right near the train station, plenty of restaurants and grocery stores all within a 5 minute walk, it is also right in the heart of Shinjuku. I don't mean this lightly, I WILL be coming right back here when I return to Japan."